by Scott, J. S.
His clothing disappeared as his marauding tongue continued to invade her mouth, leaving them skin-to-skin. He set her down on the bed, finally disengaging his mouth from hers.
Talia’s gaze locked with his, fascinated by the spiraling amber fire in his eyes, which actually threw sparks of light into the air around them. “Drew,” she murmured, still panting from the violence of her climax, entranced by the intensity of his stare.
“Now you’re ready,” he said arrogantly, but his expression revealed a tinge of vulnerability, too.
Talia’s eyes moved over his ripped body: so perfect, and so damn masculine. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered breathlessly, her fingers itching to touch the smooth skin over the steely bulk of his muscular build.
Drew crawled onto the bed to sit beside her. “I’m an Irish peasant, Talia. And part of me will always be an Irish peasant. I don’t dwell on it, and I love being a Sentinel. But I’ve never forgotten where I came from. I’m far from pleasant to look at.”
Talia frowned at him, wondering how he could find her beautiful, yet be totally unable to see his own allure. “Aside from being a panty-melting, gorgeous male, there are so many other things aside from physical appearance that make you beautiful to me,” Talia argued, running her hand over his stubborn jaw.
Catching her hand, he pressed it to his mouth. “You’re the only woman who I want to see me that way. So as long as you find me acceptable, that’s all that matters. And your panties didn’t melt—I tore them,” he informed her, deadpan. “Take me now, Talia. I can’t wait any longer.”
Talia scooted over as Drew lay down on the bed, uttering a string of lyrical words that she didn’t understand. His arms swept out to his sides and stopped, held immobile by invisible bindings. “Fuck! They really are unbreakable.” The muscles in his arms and powerful legs strained, but his movement was limited. “Come ride me, Talia. I’ll forget about them.” His voice was demanding, authoritative even though he was the one restrained.
Talia watched him for a moment, eyeing the dominant male who put himself at her mercy just so she would be his, and it moved her more than she ever thought possible. The mating instinct overtook her as she saw him in that position, her instinct to claim him as her own undeniable. She longed to ride him until he was as overcome by desire as she was right now.
“Your need is nothing compared to mine,” Drew groaned. “Fuck me, Talia.”
The pain in his tone shook Talia out of her mesmerized trance and into action. He sounded tortured, and it squeezed at her heart. She eased onto his body, realizing he was throwing off heat like a furnace. Not hesitating, she moved over him, positioning his cock to her empty channel, needing him to fill her with an urgency that was soul deep. She took him in one forceful plunge, a stroke that filled her to capacity, and they groaned together as he sunk deep, the connection so sublime that Talia nearly climaxed again. Lowering herself over his body so they were skin-to-skin, she told him tremulously, “Tell me what you want, what you need. I’m not sure how to please you this way.”
“You’re already pleasing me, love. I’m exactly where I want to be.” Drew lifted his hips as Talia bore down on him, burying himself even deeper than she could have imagined possible. “It arouses me even more knowing that you’ve never had a man this way. That it will only ever be with me,” he growled possessively, his mouth taking hers as they moved together, Drew’s urgency becoming ruthless.
Talia became submerged in a pleasure so intense that all she could feel was Drew and the volatility of their fierce and exquisite coupling. Their bodies moved as one, Drew burying his cock impossibly deeper with every downward movement she made, and having him fill her again and again, deeper and deeper, became her only thought, her only need. Her whole body was sensitized; the feel of Drew’s moist skin sliding against hers was erotic, every emotion pounding at her raw and vivid.
Drew disconnected his mouth from hers with a violent twist of his head. “Mark me, Talia. For Christ’s sake…do it now.” His breath was hot and heavy against her neck, his voice commanding yet desperate.
Animalistic possessiveness flowed over her in waves, her need to mark Drew as hers as critical as breathing. Her teeth latched onto his shoulder, gripping his skin and muscle tightly with her teeth.
Mine! Drew is mine.
Her mouth released its grip, and she sat up, watching with deep satisfaction as the mating marked formed, even as Drew continued to bury his cock into her, pummeling upward so hard that she moaned. “Drew. You’re finally mine. I love you so much.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and really, she couldn’t stop them, didn’t want to stop them. Her emotions were on overload, every cell in her body energized from the vibrant connection she was experiencing with Drew. She was drowning in erotic pleasure, and she couldn’t hold back the emotions pounding at her.
Talia was suddenly pulled from her hypnotic daze and she felt herself propelled through the air, landing on her back with Drew’s massive bulk pressing her into the mattress. His look was ferocious and hungry as he snarled, “What did you say?”
“You’re mine,” she repeated.
He pinned her hands over her head, his cock still buried inside her, his body not moving. “Not that.”
“I love you,” Talia panted, her legs wrapping around his waist, urging him to start fucking her again. She needed it, and she needed it now.
“Say it again,” he insisted. “Tell me again.”
“I love you,” she repeated, tears beginning to flow down her face. “Claim me, Drew. It hurts.” It hurt that he didn’t love her, too, but it also hurt to be unclaimed after she had already declared him as her own.
Drew moved his hands under her ass, pulled her hips up to his groin, joining them as closely as he could while he quickened the strokes of his cock.
“Mine. You’ll always be mine,” he said ferociously, his teeth clamping down on her shoulder, the mating mark starting to form almost instantaneously.
Talia was bombarded with a pleasure so intense that she started to climax immediately, her channel clamping down hard on Drew’s cock as she experienced the most earth-shattering orgasm of her life. Her back arched beneath him, her entire body vibrating, Drew still holding her arms over her head in a dominating gesture. “I don’t think I can take this,” she screamed as she continued to climax violently and Drew’s essence flowed into her, binding them together.
Drew groaned. “Mine.” His body bucked as he released himself deep inside her, the internal wall muscles of her channel gloving his cock tightly, milking him.
Talia’s heart was racing, and she was breathless as Drew rolled them over again, bringing her on top of him. He stroked her hair and ran a soothing hand down her back, cradling her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.
“You are,” Drew said gruffly. “There’s nothing more important, not a person in the world I cherish more than you.”
Talia marveled at her connection with Drew. Their thoughts and feelings flowed back and forth between each other like they were one instead of two. She could decipher which emotions were his and which were hers, but it was as though they had one soul, and everything they thought and felt belonged in that one place. It was like she was finally whole, but still herself. “Odd,” she whispered, her heart still pounding against her chest wall.
“Incredible,” Drew corrected. “I’d only ever heard of the connection between mates. It’s not the same as feeling it.”
Talia lifted her head, which seemed to take an enormous amount of effort since her body was limp and sated. “Does this mean you’ll feel less protective? Now that we’re officially mates?”
Drew laughed, a genuine sound of happiness that Talia had never heard from him before.
“You wish, mo ghra. I protect what’s mine. I’m likely to be worse. But I’ll try not to suffocate you with it.” He
shifted her to his side and cuddled her close. “Is it really so bad? Having someone worry about you?”
No. It wasn’t bad at all. “I’m not used to it. I’ve always been alone, Drew. But no, it isn’t bad. It’s wonderful. It’s only bad when you’re being stubborn and unreasonable.”
“Me?” he quipped innocently. “I’m never stubborn or unreasonable, love.”
Talia snorted but she didn’t comment. Drew Winston was the most stubborn individual, male or female, that she’d ever encountered, but it was one of the things she loved about him...most of the time, anyway. He was definitely tenacious.
“Tell me again, Talia,” Drew demanded quietly.
She knew what he wanted to hear, but it was difficult for her to keep telling him that she loved him when he didn’t love her in the same way. It stabbed at her heart, and if she kept saying it, it would be a scab that would never heal. Instead of speaking, she traced the lines of the mating mark on his shoulder, noting that it was exactly the same as the one she’d seen on Kat.
“Talia,” Drew said huskily. “How can you think—”
“Drew!” Talia cried with alarm, feeling her body start to fade. “Something’s happening.” Her head began to swim and her image of Drew grew blurry.
“Talia! Hold on to me. Don’t leave me.” Drew grasped Talia more tightly, trying to hold onto her body, but within seconds he was clawing at thin air.
Drew tried not to panic, but he failed miserably. His breathing grew rapid and shallow as he scrambled out of the bed, bellowing her name. “Talia!”
Stay calm, man. Zach had freaked out and look how that turned out. All Drew could remember was that Kat had ended up in the demon realm after she and Zach had mated, unable to control her realm-walker powers that had emerged immediately after the two of them had mated. And Zach had definitely lost it when his mate had disappeared.
“Bloody hell!” Drew cursed, trying to remember what exactly had happened to Zach. “Kristoff reminded him that he was still connected to Kat,” he rumbled, remembering how significant that had been.
Drew closed his eyes, his mind racing, trying to feel Talia’s essence. They were connected now, joined by their souls.
He could feel her confusion, but he didn’t sense that she was in pain or afraid. And she was close, in one single place, and not drifting from realm to realm. Her presence was solid, but that information still didn’t keep him from feeling desperate to get to her.
Dressing himself with his magic, Drew closed his eyes and followed the trail of her spirit, knowing only that he had to find her. His demon might be demanding its mate, but Drew knew the man in him needed her more than his demon ever could.
His form dissolved, determined that he’d either find her, or die trying.
Talia was mortified when she found herself transported to another room, in an unknown place that had the same décor as Kristoff’s home, the same style, but God only knew where the hell she was.
She sat up slowly, pushing the hair from her eyes, realizing the humiliating fact that she was completely nude. “Shit,” she cursed softly, looking around in a panic to see if she could cover herself.
“Problems?” a rough, low voice said from the other side of the room. “What are you doing in here?”
Talia’s eyes shot to the other side of the room, only to find Hunter staring at her with an evil grin. He was lying on a massive bed, his head propped up by one arm, looking at her like women dropped into his bedroom every day. Did anything ever faze Hunter? “I’m naked,” Talia said, stating the obvious as she drew her knees up to her chest to hide her body.
“I’d help you out, but I’m fresh out of powers,” Hunter grumbled, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed and sauntering to his closet. Pulling out a robe from the back of the closet, he tossed it in her direction, keeping his eyes averted. “Use that. I sleep in the raw anyway. I hardly ever use it.”
“Where am I? Am I still in Kristoff’s house?” she asked Hunter nervously as she held the robe up to hide her nakedness.
“Technically, yes. This is the basement apartment,” Hunter answered cautiously, as though he was still trying to figure out what the naked mate of another Sentinel was doing here.
Talia quickly wrapped herself in the black silk robe, pulling the sash closed with a hard jerk. She might be tall, but the Sentinels were massive, and it covered her from neck to toes. Scrambling to her feet, she had to reach for the arm of a chair to catch her balance. Her entire body was humming, a droning noise that kept getting stronger and stronger, louder and louder.
Her impulse to touch Hunter was confusing, and rather frightening. She tried to fight it, but she was drawn to him like a magnet. It wasn’t the same way she was drawn to Drew, but more of an instinct, a magical compulsion to make contact with the Sentinel in front of her. “May I touch you, Hunter?”
Hunter just gaped at her, his expression incredulous.
Talia!
She could hear Drew’s desperate bellow in mind, and she mentally called out to him, letting him know she was safe.
I’m with Hunter. I’m in the basement apartment. I’m fine, Drew.
“You want to touch me why?” Hunter rasped. “Nobody touches me unless they have to for penalties,” he denied her.
Talia felt Hunter’s pain more acutely than she ever had before, the aching loneliness that was nearly making him go insane. His rage was on the surface, but the real pain was deep inside him. “I don’t know why. I just need to touch you. Please. It’s painful.” The droning was getting louder, her head beginning to spin.
“Fuck,” he said irritably. “Then do it. Just don’t do anything that will make Irish want to kick my ass or kill me.”
Talia stepped forward cautiously, as though she were approaching a wild animal. Hunter wasn’t completely broken. Because she was hurting, he’d agreed to whatever she needed him to do to help her. “It’s not like that, Hunter. I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t sexual.”
Hunter surprised her by holding his roughened palm out to her, and she placed her hand into his, the noise quickly quieting for her, but Hunter looked dumbstruck. Talia gripped his hand tightly, suddenly realizing exactly what was happening. “Your powers are returning to you.” She could feel the transfer of an energy that wasn’t her own flowing into Hunter’s body.
Hunter’s body shuddered as he momentarily gripped her hand tighter before finally releasing it. Shaking his head in denial, he said gruffly, “You mated with Drew?”
Lowering her hand back to her side, she replied, “Yes.”
“And if you ever fucking touch her again, I’ll kill you,” Drew’s angry voice informed Hunter from behind her. “What the hell are you doing?”
Talia spun around and put a palm on Drew’s chest. “I asked permission from him to touch him. It wasn’t his fault. Drew, this has to be my latent radiant power. I was drawn to Hunter because he was powerless. I’m obviously a conduit for lost powers of the Sentinels. I’m some kind of power restorer. Hunter’s powers were bound. I’m clearly capable of releasing them or restoring them. They came to me, and I gave them back to Hunter. Why would the Sentinels need that kind of skill? How often do Sentinels lose their powers?”
Drew shot Hunter a still irritated look and asked, “Are they completely back?”
“Yeah. I can feel them,” Hunter answered roughly.
“Sentinels don’t lose their powers often in the human realm, but they’re powerless in the demon realm.” A third male voice entered the fray, and Talia saw Zach and Kat standing behind Drew. “Your power makes perfect sense,” Zach muttered.
“Well, it doesn’t make sense to me. Are you saying that Talia can be sucked into the demon realm at any time?” Drew questioned Zach, his eyes filled with rage.
“Doubtful,” Zach answered calmly. “There are no Sentinels being held prisoner there except Krist
off, and he’s under a bargain.” Zach looked at Kat, and she nodded hesitantly. “I have something I need to tell you all.”
“Spit it out,” Drew growled. “I don’t like the idea of Talia being vulnerable.”
“When Kat and I were stuck in the demon realm, we saw human females there. For some reason, the Evils are keeping some women alive there. Human women. Kristoff said they’re special, that they are able to recharge and not die when their souls are drained,” Zach explained.
“Radiants,” Kat and Talia said in harmony, smiling at each other as they spoke.
Talia shrugged. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Human females who recharge can only be Sentinel radiants who haven’t yet lost their dormant power. The Evils pursued both Kat and I relentlessly. It’s obvious they’re after radiants who haven’t yet mated. It’s probably their source of increased power.”
Zach and Drew looked at each other and slowly nodded. “Makes sense,” Drew agreed aloud, pulling Talia closer to his side.
“Why is Kristoff in the demon realm?” Hunter asked hoarsely, his expression confused.
Drew quickly filled Hunter in on all that had occurred while he had been hiding away in his room, angry about the binding of his powers.
“Kristoff had a request for you. Are you going to do it? He said it was important,” Drew asked, eyeing Hunter cautiously. “You can go slay demons now that you have your powers back, or you can honor the last request of your king.”
Talia watched Hunter closely as rage flashed briefly in his eyes, and then turned to a look of stubborn determination. Obviously, Hunter’s first instinct was to kill, but he had enough honor left to heed his king, even if said king had bound his powers.
“Kristoff pisses me off, but he saved my life. I’ll see to it,” Hunter agreed reluctantly.
